Dolores: Zone of the Enders
by Jorus C'baoth
Summary: Novelization of the ZOE anime, beginning with 2167 I DOLO and continuing from there. At the moment, there are two chapters, but eventually, there should be more. Please read/review.
1. CHAPTER ONE : PRACTICE

_**CHAPTER ONE : PRACTICE**_

**outside nereidum county, mars**

There were four cannons on the mountain ridge. They were all pointed directly at Cooper's LEV. Once it was hit, Second Lieutenant Radium Lavans made sure his helmet was secure―White Team would be going in on the second shot fired―and rechecked his energy readouts. He was all good to go, but he had a very strange sense going in.

_"__Hit! Red Team! Withdraw!"_ Second Lieutenant Baran shouted into his comlink.

"Okay, White Team, we're going in," Radium said into his own. He got acknowledgements from every one of his teammates. He manuvered his LEV up, hitting thrust control and landing on a pile of rocks that nearly threw his LEV off-balance. Two Mosquitos caught sight of him. He raised the machine gun and fired at both of them, just as the rocks underneath his LEV took a direct hit. He had only seconds to readjust and boost out of there. As he did, he looked around the battlefield for the rest of his team, but couldn't find them. "White Team, acknowledge," he ordered.

Will answered first. _"White Two copy, behind at five 'o clock."_

Next came Viola. _"White One copy, behind at six."_

Radium grinned. His team was still intact. "Talk to me, Will."

_"__What kind of cockamamie stratagy is this? No air support? Jesus!"_

"I hear you."

_"__Hey knuckleheads!"_ Colonel Edgar shouted from the bunker. _"Quit playing target practice and make the assault!"_

Radium grunted an affirmative and went ahead. Two more Mosquitos were taken down, along with Green Team taking out one of the four cannons. The main double rail gun was still a threat, however. Radium fired his machine gun at it, but came up dry. He ejected the magazine and slapped a new one into place.

Will's LEV was right beside him, firing away at the rail gun. Several Mosquitos flew between his shots, one heading straight toward him. It fired, hitting the full upper torso of Will's LEV, knocking it down to the ground with a loud crashing noise.

"Will!" Radium shouted, just as a grouping of shots hit the ground behind him. One of them hit his LEV's right arm, knocking the machine gun out of its hands.

_"__Lieutenant Lavans!"_ Viola's crisp, clear voice came through his radio. Radium looked to his left and saw her firing away at the Mosquitos behind him. _"Looks like you're getting choppy."_

"Yeah, just shut up, Viola," Radium snarled, though he could practically see Viola's smiling face inside her LEV.

_"__You're looking _sharp_ as _wooden spoons_ out there! White Team, what the fuck's going on?"_

"Yeah, just what the hell do you expect on a handicap of boosters at half power?"

_"__What did you say, _Corporal_ Lavans?"_

"Just clearing the static, sir," Radium smiled. Then he returned to being serious. A plan had been formulating in his head the whole time, now it was the right time to impliment it. "Viola, I'm gonna go for the ridge―from up there," he pointed to a higher ridge, to the left of the one the cannons were on.

_"__No way, uh-uh, no! It's too rash!"_

"You're givin' _me_ a rash!"

_"__You'll be blown to pieces!"_

"I'll take my chances. Just give me cover, got that?"

_"__If you die, take that as an 'I told you so', Lavans."_

"Wouldn't take it as anything less." With that, Radium shifted the control sticks and ran toward the base of the cliff. Once there, he hit the boosters once, and proppelled himself onto a small plataeu halfway up the mountain. A second boost and he landed on the top of the ridge―

―and into the firing path of a smaller cannon that he hadn't seen at first. Radium swore under his breath and emptied his second magazine into the thing, destroying the front half and sending a sheet of the back armor onto the ground.

A second plan formed in his mind. He grabbed the sheet of armor and held it in front of him. Then he looked down upon the main cannon, hit the boosters one last time, then went into freefall. All the way down, he emptied his third magazine into the cannon, creating micro explosions all over it.

The cannon began to react. It turned upward and began to fire at him. Still firing, Radium finished out the third magazine and then dropped the machine gun. He pulled up the sheet of armor, covering up the LEV's entire torso and most of the head.

A round from the cannon caught the left shoulder, knocking out the entire left arm. Radium lost the sheet of armor with the left arm. He hit the boosters again, trying to get out of the incoming fire, but the fuel was depleted. "Fuck!" he shouted, as another round hit the LEV's head.

Just as the cannon targeted the cockpit, it exploded, sending debris and ArkJet matter flying, hitting other cannons. The other three on the ridge shut down immediately as the first exploded.

Radium's LEV landed, harshly. The cockpit was torn up by the ground. Nothing remained of the internal circuitry. His displays went down, his comm was destroyed. A piece of metal just barely missed his head as it impaled the seat.

_Great,_ he thought, _now I can't move. Dammit._

Radium tried to relax in the cockpit. It was hard, with all the destruction in the small capsule. He didn't want to wait very long, but he knew that the clean up crews would take a while with all of the other squads destroyed.

A broken voice came over the comm. _"Lieu... Lavans... wh... se... ur... en..."_

"Can't understand what you're sayin'," he answered.

Suddenly, he felt his LEV moving. Then, it fell again, and the cockpit door was ripped off by another LEV. The other cockpit opened, and Viola stood up. "I said, why didn't you separate your engine when you jumped off?"

"Oh." Radium thought for a moment―separating the booster engine would have activated temporary foot-jets, which then could have been used to complete his plan without a hitch. "Guess I didn't think about it."

Viola jumped down and helped him out of the restraints. "You were lucky that was just a practice run, otherwise, the Terrans would have taken you prisoner."

"I have that kind of charm about me, Sergeant."

She mock saluted. "Let's get the hell out of here, Lieutenant."

Edgar's voice came over Viola's radio from the open cockpit. _"Test over. Pilots, recover your machinery and report to me when all is secure."_


	2. CHAPTER TWO : TERRAN AGGRESSION

_**CHAPTER TWO : TERRAN AGGRESSION**_

**nereidum county spaceport, mars**

Viola sat crosslegged on the floor, next to Radium, who was leaning against and looking out a window. Every so often, she would stand up and peek out the window, just to see what he was looking at, but every time, she found he was just looking at the windswept plains of Nereidum Desert. She had no clue what exactly was going through his head.

"Lavans, what are you staring at?" she finially asked.

For a while, he didn't answer. Then, as if coming out of a coma, "What? Oh, Viola, I didn't know you were there."

Viola stuck out her tongue. "Very funny, Lavans. Now, what are you staring at?"

"Oh. Just the desert."

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

Viola folded her arms across her chest. "You can be pretty weird some times, Radium."

Radium laughed. "Yeah, and you can be really boring."

"Boring?"

"C'mon, Viola, what else do you do? You just hang around the base all day and night. Don't you ever go out?"

"Wha―? Of course I do!"

"When?"

"Well, I... Y'know, don't turn this around on me!"

Radium reached out and patted Viola on the head with his hand. "I take what I said back, Viola."

"You... you do?"

"Yep. You're much funnier than I thought before."

Before she could say anything, both their attention was shifted to Will walking down the corridor towards them. His right arm was in a sling. "Hey, Lieutenant!" he shouted, while walking toward them. He passed by a few oddly uniformed soldiers, tried to slip past, but ended up being hit by one of their shoulders. "Um, excuse me, sir? I was trying _not_ to get in your way."

The soldier turned to face Will, then said, "And I was trying to get you in my way." He balled his hand into a fist, then cocked it back. "All so I could do this."

It took only a second, but the weird soldier let loose with a punch that knocked Will against the wall, and tore a large gash in his face.

Radium and Viola both ran over to him, checked him out. Viola was more knowledgeable about medical techniques, so she started to check his vitals, and clean the wound. She tore off a piece of her shirt and wrapped it around his head. _That'll have to do for a bandage._

She looked up at the soldier―nametag read BARROWS―and said, "You broke his cheekbone, and dislocated his jaw. He's lucky if he'll totally recover."

Barrows let out a deep gut chuckle that filled the corridor. "I barely flicked the boy."

A second one―LLOYD―walked over to them. "Maybe you Martians should just go and die! The universe doesn't need weaklings like you!"

The last one―HEINS―said, "Yeah, you Martians are all made of glass. That's why we're floating high on top, and you're all a bunch of worthless dregs at the bottom."

Viola stood up. "You sons of bitches!" she shouted.

Radium held out his hand, fingers spread. "Don't, Viola." He lowered the hand. "These fucking Terrans aren't worth it."

Lloyd tensed up. "What did you say, Martian?"

Radium got right up against him. "I said, you fucking Terrans aren't worth it."

Lloyd grabbed Radium by the collar. "I don't think you know just who you're talkin' too, Martian."

"I don't care who I'm talkin' too, Terran. All I know, is that you obviously have less brain than an eel!"

Lloyd's hand moved from the collar to Radium's neck. "S'at so, jellyfish boy?"

A voice called from the other side of the corridor. "Stand down, both of you."

Viola turned toward the direction of the voice. It was Colonel Edgar. He was walking toward them, holding a clipboard in his hand. He stopped two feet away from Barrows. "Colonel William Barrows, correct?"

Barrows nodded. "That's right, sir."

"You may be UNSF, but you report to me, or to UCM Chief Secretary Lawrence."

Barrows shook his head. "Wrong, sir, I'm under orders of the UNSF, an inspection of the facility."

"And I've spoken to your commanding officer. He gave me full clearance to shut you down if necessary. So you report to me, understand?"

Barrows pushed past Edgar. His men followed. "This is out of your jurisdiction, Colonel Edgar."

Radium punched the wall. "This is bullshit!"

"Cool it, Second Lieutenant Lavans," Edgar said, pulling Radium away from the wall. "You two report to Secretary Lawrence's office, right away."

* * *

**secretary lawrence's office**

Radium clasped his arms together behind his back. He looked to his left and saw Viola doing the same. Both were standing in front of Chief Secretary Hiram Lawrence's desk, awaiting the chief secretary's arrival. It took a few minutes, but the sixty year old man eventually strolled in and took his seat.

"Second Lieutenant Radium Lavans, and Sergeant Viola Gyune. Why is it, no matter what, both of you are in my office together?"

Radium spoke up. "Colonel Edgar sent us here, sir."

Lawrence nodded. "Yes, I know. I had him send you in. You two are being reassigned, effective immediately."

"What?!" Radium shouted, his hands now at his sides.

"Hold your horses, Lavans. It was Colonel Edgar who gave me your files and requested this transfer."

"Why?"

Lawrence ignored the question. "You will both be reassigned to the Nokuteisu Mountain facility, outside Vascilia county."

"Nokuteisu?" Viola asked.

"Yes. You'll leave tomorrow."

Radium walked up to the secretary's desk. "But isn't Nokuteisu a relay base? Is this some kind of reprimand for the test?"

"I assure you, Lieutenant, this decision was made before the test even occurred."

_Bullshit,_ Radium thought, watching Lawrence's eyes.

"Tomorrow, you will report to Colonel Reginald Jackson at Nokuteisu. There, he will inform you of your assignment."

* * *

**nereidum county spaceport, mars**

Radium kicked a trashcan down the hallway after he and Viola left Inspector Lawrence's office. "Goddamnit!" he shouted, then punched the wall. "I can't _believe_ this!"

Viola sighed. She knew he could be like this. "Lavans, maybe you should, I dunno, calm down?"

He stalked down the hallway. "Shut the fuck up, Viola."

* * *

**nokuteisu lev station, vascilia county, mars**

Dolores Hayes stood in front of the two consoles which controlled LEV maintenance. A maintenance officer was stationed at each console, slowly removing armor and weaponry.

She heard the sound of the door opening behind her. She turned and saw Melissa walking toward her. She rolled her eyes. Terrans and boxing were all Melissa cared about, and usually those two subjects forced their way into any conversation she had with Dolores.

"Hey, Dolores," Melissa started as soon as she reached Dolores' station, "guess who was stupid enough to pick a fight with some Terrans?"

Dolores sighed. "Melissa, you and I have better things to do than worry about racist relations or boxing matches, okay?"

Melissa came closer and whispered in Dolores' ear. In a sing-along type of voice, she said, "It was your boyfriend!"

"Wha? Radium?" Suddenly, her eyes widened. Radium had been in a fight? "Whaddya mean?"

"Yeah, I hear he got reassigned and just went into a bar and started wailing on a Terran."

"But, Radium's smarter than that!" Dolores shouted. Everyone's eyes turned to her. "I'm sorry, Melissa's in charge for the rest of the day," she said quickly and then ran out. She hopped in her car and drove all the way back to Nereidum County.

* * *

**Precinct 113, nereidum county, mars**

Viola was standing outside his cell when Radium finally woke up. He had a helluva headache, and his jaw felt kinda funny, but otherwise, he was a complete mess.

"Wha... what happened?" he asked Viola, who handed him a cup of water through the bars.

"You went and got drunk, then got in a fight with some Terrans at a bar." She turned away from him. "Your girlfriend is on her way here now, to pick you up." She walked to the other side of the room.

Radium wasn't surprised to hear he'd gotten into a fight. He did that almost every other day, nowadays. There was always something that seemed to piss him off to no extent. He took a drink of the water that Viola had given him and then burped something that smelled funny. Almost made him gag.

It took nearly twenty minutes for Dolores to get to whatever jail Radium had somehow landed himself in. She was wearing her usual―some kind of long sleeved blouse with a light colored, sleeveless sweater over top of it with a knee-length skirt. As usual, her long platinum blonde hair was let loose, falling all the way to her waist. This time, however, she didn't seem to be as happy as usual.

"Sorry, Dolly, I didn't mean to," he said as he walked out of the jailhouse.

"I know you didn't mean to, Radium, but the fact that you _did_ it was bad enough." Dolores turned to Viola. "Would you like a ride, Viola?"

"No thanks, Dolores, I'll walk. My place isn't that far away." Viola turned to Radium. "We ship out to Nokuteisu tomorrow, Lavans, don't forget _that_."

Radium laughed. "How the hell could I ever forget that, Viola? After all it's led to."

Viola smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow, then." With that, she turned and walked away.

Radium stood there for a moment, until a pair of hands pushed him into the car. "C'mon, Radium, let's go," Dolores said, walking around to the driver's side. "You've got a lot of _explaining_ to do when we get home. But, first, what's this about you getting transferred to Nokuteisu?"

Radium readjusted himself in the seat. "Edgar's clearing out all the riff-raff it seems, getting rid of me and Viola. At the very least, it means I'll get to see you more often."

"And that's very nice, but why _you_? I can't think of a single thing that needs another LEV pilot on base right now."

"Nothing?"

"No. Nothing except―oh! I didn't even know Dr. Links was done with that yet."

"Done with what?"

Dolores smiled. "My lips are sealed."

Radium smiled. "Are they?"

"I'm serious, Radium. We're bound by orders and we could get court martialed for saying anything."

"Okay, guess maybe you don't need any explainations after all, tonight."

"Oh, believe me, darling, you owe me _plenty_ of explainations for your little bar fight today."

* * *

**manhatten apartments, room 42a, nereidum county, mars**

Viola tossed her jacket over a kitchen chair, then took off her shirt and dropped it on the floor. After that test in the desert, she was tired. All she wanted to do was hop into bed and fall asleep.

She curled up into the fetal position and covered herself with a blanket, letting her mind wander to the day she'd met Radium. She nearly laughed―he'd been drunk that day, too. Drunk, and still he had enough of a mind to best her in hand-to-hand combat.

She looked over at the picture on her nightstand. Fifteen year old Viola and her foster parents. That picture had been taken the day she'd met Radium. Only hours before.

* * *

**Outside a terran bar, nereidum county, mars**

_Viola grabbed the Terran by the throat and pulled him down to the ground. He obviously had no idea why she was doing what she was doing, but he knew to scream as loud as possible._

_"__Hey, kid," came a voice from somewhere around her. She looked toward the direction of the sound and saw a guy barely standing at the back door to the Seventh Heaven bar. "You better leave that guy alone, kid," he slurred._

_"__I _hate_ Terrans! I want them all to die!"_

_"__I betcha do, kid," the man walked toward her―stumbled, more accurately. "But he's just an inno―innocent bystander."_

_Viola didn't understand him. He was wearing the insignias of UCM and BAHRAM, yet he was defending a Terran? "What the fuck's the matter with you? Terrans just oppress Mars!"_

_"__I said he's innocent," he barely got the word _innocent_ out._

_"__Fine!" She let the Terran go, he ran away as fast as possible. "Just bow down to Earth then! That's obviously what you want!" She ran at the man with her knife, but he grabbed her by the arm and dropped her to the ground. The knife flew out of her hands, and suddenly he had pressed a handgun to the underside of her chin._

_"__You hate Earth that much? So much, in fact, that you're willing to die for it?"_

_"__Yes. Terrans don't deserve to do shit like they do to us."_

_"__Well 'en, Kid, how's about you come with me? I'll get you a post in BAHRAM. We could use somebody like you."_

_Viola couldn't believe what he'd said. Go with him to BAHRAM? "Of course! I'll join BAHRAM!"_

_"__Good." He let her go. "Grow up a little, and then call this number." he handed her a card with his name on it. "Now, I gotta get somewhere where I can get hungover in peace." He walked a few feet away, then fell down._

* * *

**Manhatten apartments, room 42a, nereidum county, mars**

The memory wasn't exactly a fond one, but it had been her introduction to Radium Lavans, a man who had a profound influence on her life.

As she laid on her bed and looked at the picture of herself in the black hoodie and blue jeans, her eyes teared up.

Radium was the love of her life―and she couldn't have him.


End file.
